1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to snow plows. More particularly, the invention relates to a hinged snow plow for use on off-road vehicles. The snow plow is designed so that an adapter bracket is easily mounted to a tubular frame which is made in many variations so that the snow plow of the present invention can be mounted to practically any off-road vehicle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Hinged snow plows have been known in the art for many years in relationship to the mounting of various types of snow plows on pickup trucks for use in commercial settings. One such snow plow that is known is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,658,519, issued on Apr. 21, 1987, to Phillip J. Quenzi. This patent discloses a hinged snow plow wherein a cowling is pivotally secured to the free end of a support frame which attaches to a vehicle in a manner such that the cowling pivots in a generally vertical plane about the free end of the frame. The blades of the snow plow are hinged to the cowling. However, this snow plow has a first and second stop means which are undesirable for use in off-road vehicles. Off-road vehicles generally lack adequate traction and are underpowered for moving and clearing areas of snow on a commercial basis or for expanded personal use. The provision of the stop means on the Quenzi snow plow under certain conditions requires additional power which the off-road vehicle simply does not have. Also, the hydraulic adjustment means are impractical for use on off-road vehicles since a source of hydraulic power is just not available. The U.S. Pat. No. 3,307,275, issued on Mar. 7, 1967 to E. A. Simi, and the U.S. Pat. No. 3,706,144, issued Dec. 19, 1972 to Miceli, also suffer from one or more of these problems. Thus, those skilled in the snow plow art have continued to search for solutions to these problems.